--- title: The One Commitment You Need Most of All | The Sales Blog description: The salesperson explained that their prospective client had made a number of commitments in the past, and had each time failed to keep their commitment. image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Untitled-design-2-2.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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Their prospective client is smart and successful, and they had reached out to the salesperson to initiate a conversation. Now, as it was time to begin to do the work to put the solution in place, the prospective client kept canceling meetings. This prospective client, despite all outward appearances, has not really made [the one commitment necessary](http://thesalesblog.com/2012/05/02/its-a-lead-not-an-opportunity/) for all opportunities, and without which there is really no deal to be had—even if they seem sincerely interested in your solution. The commitment they are missing is the commitment to change. You need the commitment for time. You also need a commitment to explore change. At some point, to create an opportunity, the client has to agree to commit to change. You can have a lot of nice meetings without your client ever really making this commitment, a commitment that is often the most difficult for the client to make because it means they have to change. Your prospective client can be truly interested in what you sell, and still not be psychologically prepared to change. They can have both conscious and unconscious fears and concerns that cause them to make excuses instead of keeping their commitments, excuses that make sense to them, like “I am too busy to do this right now,” or “I can’t do this until I take care of this other priority.” Much of the time, these excuses serve to allow the person making them to kick the can down the road, postponing making a decision one way or the other. When this is true, the prospect almost certainly believes that they really need to change, but haven’t summoned the courage to commit, even when the risk of not acting is greater than the risk of acting. If there is one commitment you need to move forward, it is the commitment to change. While [all ten of the commitments](http://www.thelostartofclosing.com) are necessary, this is the one that causes deals to die prematurely and unnecessarily. ###### Tags: [Closing](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/closing) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on September 19, 2017 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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You were put here to do something and to flourish. You’re here to reach your full potential and to make a difference. [![DOWNLOAD EBOOK](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/5746f431-45b9-48ee-a8d8-e9a950e5ab3f.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/5746f431-45b9-48ee-a8d8-e9a950e5ab3f) ## Are You Ready To Solve Your Sales Challenges? ![Anthony-Solve-Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Anthony-Solve-Sales.png?width=290&height=221&name=Anthony-Solve-Sales.png) Hi, I’m Anthony. I help sales teams make the changes needed to create more opportunities & crush their sales targets. What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2022-02-18T9:51:27 PM", "datePublished" : "2017-09-19 08:00:22", "description" : "The salesperson explained that their prospective client had made a number of commitments in the past, and had each time failed to keep their commitment.", "headline" : "The One Commitment You Need Most of All", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 16, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/Image/favicon.ico", "width" : 16 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/the-one-commitment-you-need-most-of-all", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "name" : "The One Commitment You Need Most of All", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 24, "url" : "https://f.hubspotusercontent20.net/hubfs/2922376/TSB/images/TSB%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "width" : 228 }, "name" : "The Sales Blog" } } ```